Kaizer Chiefs vs Sunday World: Press Ombud rules against headline
Editors may feel that rulings like this tie their hands when it comes to punchy headlines
- Kaizer Chiefs lodged a complaint against Sunday World with the Press Council.
- The complaint dealt with two stories Sunday World ran about allegations of racism at the soccer club.
- While the Deputy Press Ombud dismissed the soccer clubâs main claim, it found that Sunday World did not offer the club an opportunity to respond to an allegation, that it used exaggerated language, and that the headline on one of the articles breached the Press Code.
On Sunday, 21 April 2024, Kaizer Chiefs lost 1-0 to a low-ranked Richards Bay at King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi, its third loss in as many matches. Off the field, facing off against Sunday World before the Press Ombud over an article in the newspaper, it fared only slightly better.
Kaizer Chiefsâ main claim â that two reports in the paper reflected âthe unverified claims of a single source in the clubâ â was dismissed.
The complaint, which was lodged on 8 December 2023, concerned reports that were published in Sunday World on 26 November and 4 December 2023 respectively. Press Ombud rulings are usually issued quite quickly. But in this case, Sunday Worldâs acting editor took months to respond to the complaint. Ordinarily, a publication is required to respond within seven working days.
The offending reports focused on allegations of racism, racial tension, and racial discrimination at Kaizer Chiefs, with the second report focusing on the clubâs alleged response to the first â a âwitch-hunt against racism whistleblowersâ. Kaizer Chiefs was given an opportunity to respond to both reports, which it did, with the spokesperson and caretaker coach being quoted in the first and second respectively.
Three of the eight legs to the complaint were upheld: a breach of clause 1.8 of the Press Code, which deals with the right of reply; a breach of clause 1.2, which requires news to be presented âin context and in a balanced manner, without any intentional or negligent departure from the factsâ; and a breach of clause 10.1, which deals with misleading headlines, captions and posters.
Clause 1.8 was breached because Kaizer Chiefs was not given an opportunity to respond to the allegation that only âthe âcolouredâ players ⌠were allowed to leave the team hotel to go watch the Springboks rugby finalâ. That allegation was made in the context of black players allegedly complaining âthat the âcolouredâ playersâ matters are always swept under the carpet, while their cases are dealt with harshly.â
The breach of clause 1.2 was established because of Sunday Worldâs use of words such as turmoil to describe unhappiness, and witch hunt to describe the asking of questions. In coming to the conclusion that âboth reports breached clause 1.2 by exaggerating the matterâ, the Deputy Press Ombud found that Sunday World used terms that âare over the top, even allowing for tabloid styleâ.
The final breach, of clause 10.1, is limited to âthe headline and related material of the second articleâ, and not the body of the report itself. The offending parts were found to âelevate a claim undulyâ. In particular, the use of the term racism whistleblowers (in the headline âKaizer Chiefs launch witch-hunt against racism whistleblowersâ), was found to make âa strong assumption that the claims are now established fact.â
Editors may feel that this part of the ruling is harsh because a headline has to be punchy to attract readersâ attention; pinpoint precision is a high bar in this context. In any event, our law of defamation recognises that âwords that are used in a newspaper heading must not be read in isolation â the ordinary reader must be taken to have read the article as a whole albeit without careful analysisâ (see here).
This ruling does not require an apology, a remedy often favoured by ombud rulings. Instead, Sunday World was ordered to publish a correction of each report (in print and online), along with a brief summary of the ruling, and various related material. As is the norm, a draft of the correction is to be submitted to the Deputy Press Ombud for approval before publication.
At the time of writing, both parties still had time to apply for leave to appeal to the chairperson of the Appeals Panel. Kaizer Chiefs may very well have more reason to feel aggrieved, given that its core complaints were dismissed. That said, Sunday World may feel aggrieved at being accused of publishing exaggerated, tabloid style articles, and having its hands tied somewhat when it comes to headlines.
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